


Invisible Ties

by orochiis



Series: Invisible Ties [9]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Chapter 23, F/M, im dead in the ground
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 16:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6914521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orochiis/pseuds/orochiis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They win the battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Invisible Ties

**Author's Note:**

> 'Don't put any stock in this destiny hogwash' is possibly the best line in any video game ive played

She’s crying inconsolably. Inigo and Owain are yelling at her, and even Kjelle hits her in the back of her head to snap her out of her stupor. But Lucina falls to the ground, Falchion cutting into her palms. Inigo pries it out from her hands, and Owain places a hand on her shoulder.  
  
“Go, you three! Let me deal with this! If anything, this is my fault!”

At her command, they back away. Lucina is their captain, their commander. She is a princess, and she manages to command this ragtag bunch of kids who don’t really know their way around a fight better than her parents ever could dream of.  
  
“I was supposed to change this… but I didn’t change anything. And now I know who killed my father. I should’ve killed you back then, mother!” The lightning bolt is still sticking out of Chrom’s abdomen, and Lucina has to force herself to tear her eyes away.

“Robin could do nothing against me. She is my puppet,” Validar snarls. “And now, I have the Fire Emblem.”

“This can’t be happening,” Lucina says, dragging herself to her feet. The tears drip down onto the marble floor, and her legs are shaking from exhaustion. “Everything I’ve done has been for nothing!”  
  
“The hell it was!”  
  
“I know that voice…” Lucina says, glancing to her left. Validar also looks left, and Basilio comes into sight, followed closely by Flavia.   
  
“Don’t you put any stock in this destiny hogwash!” He says, squaring up against Validar.

Lucina takes this time to glance at her parents. Chrom’s breathing has all but stopped, and Robin stares blankly at his body. Her hood covers her face, but the single tear that drops from her nose onto the ground lets Lucina know her mother is at least semi-conscious in there. Whether or not she can be retrieved is another matter.

Validar and Basilio are arguing, but Lucina is too overcome with grief to listen. She catches odd words- gemstones, Fire Emblem, Flavia, tricked. _Tricked_. One syllable restores her faith ever so slightly. She narrows her eyes, staring intently at her father’s body. She can’t tell if he is certainly dead, but perhaps that’s not what Basilio is referring to.  
  
“What, because of destiny?” Basilio thunders, and Validar turns his nose up, taking a step backwards. Basilio grabs the teenager by the arm, and drags her out of the way, just as her mother turns, hood flying down, and fires a perfectly timed Thoron at Validar. Their family is complicated, Lucina thinks. She’s half Plegian, technically, and half royalty from two opposing sides of a war that so many have died in. It’s strange, she thinks, but she knows that both she and her mother feel more connected to Ylisse than they do to Plegia.  
  
Chrom gets to his feet with a grunt and a clatter of armour, his hand held to the spot where Robin’s Thunder attack impaled him. She rushes to his side, showering kisses on his face and trying her best to stem the blood flow coming from the wound with the limited medical knowledge she has. Lucina’s mouth falls open as Validar backs away.  
  
“Father, you’re alive!”  
  
“Robin weakened her magic before she hit me. She knew this was happening,” he explained, staring directly at Validar. “She saw it in a dream. We could plan this out. You’re done for, Validar! My wife is not stupid, nor is she weak, nor is she your puppet!”

* * *

Validar’s body lies on the ground, mouth wide open as if screaming out one final attack. A trickle of blood runs down his pale face, creating a small puddle on the floor. The shepherds- well, they’ve become much more than mere shepherds- are celebrating, apart from Robin, who is vomiting at a pillar, tears streaming down her face. Chrom’s hand holds her hair back, and Lissa is working her magic on him from afar, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, coughing harshly and leaning against the pillar. She looks as though she’s about to collapse any moment, and he seeks out Frederick within the crowd.  
  
“This was not your fault. In fact, thanks to you, we carried the day,” he jokes, knowing the words he said earlier. She laughs, tears spilling from her eyes once again.  
  
“I can’t believe… I can’t believe I killed my own father,” she says, glancing at Validar’s dead body. Another wave of nausea passes over her, and her hand slips down the pillar before Chrom catches her, wrapping one arm around her waist. Her fingernails dig into her palm, causing circular indents.

“You did great,” he says, pressing a kiss to her temple. He turns her around, holding her at arm’s length and admiring her. Although she’s covered in sweat and deathly pale from being sick, and there are visible tear tracks running down her face, and the bags under eyes have never been clearer (he knows she hasn’t been sleeping to come up with this strategy), she’s still beautiful, and he hugs her, tighter than he ever has before, as though he could lose her at any second. He rests his head on top of her's- he has to stretch- she’s tall- and draws circles on her back to calm her down.  
  
Slowly, slowly, they rejoin the rest of the group, supporting each other. Lissa and Maribelle rush over and separate them so they can work, with Gaius, Cordelia and Libra healing the other members of the team. Eventually, they find each other again, and Chrom insists that she rides on Frederick’s horse- she still looks ill, despite it being a few hours since she last threw up.  
  
“Shepherds!” he calls, getting everyone’s attention.

They’re ready to go, and he spots Gaius sneaking his sweets back inside his cloak and rolls his eyes. Maribelle lines up beside Lissa, and Sumia and Cordelia circle cautiously. Tharja is picking her nails once more, and Lon’qu is tapping his foot impatiently. A sense of normalcy falls over the group, and Chrom is confident that they haven’t just won the battle, but they’ve won the war.  
  
“Onward we march!”

**Author's Note:**

> i had to watch an LP of this to remember the exact events in order and i cried when it came to the cutscene. Imagine stabbing your husband in the stomach like that. Gods, Robin!


End file.
